Burlington, Vermont - October 10, 2011
The harmonica has been around for years -- even Abraham Lincoln played one. Now one man's love for the harmonica is getting many Vermonters excited for their own endeavors.
Bob Hoffman is passionate about the harmonica. He loves the sound, but found out there's one problem. "It's a very versatile instrument. Kids can play it -- adults. It's easy to play but hard to get good at. But carrying it in the right vehicle, that's the trick," he said.
A portability problem he's solved with creative cases that hang around the neck. He's now known as Hoff the Harmonica Case Man. But he doesn't make the crazy cases, he commissions different Vermont artisans. "Take one idea -- harmonica cases and let different artists do it and they come up with all different beautiful intriguing designs," Hoffman said.
Hoff has quite the collection with more than 30 Vermont made cases and hundreds from other countries. "I'm crazy about these things but I'm not crazy," he said.
"My first thought was I thought he was a crazy person," said John Brickels, a clay artist who is working on his 4th commissioned case for Hoff. "I try not to do commissions, but for the Hoff I do," he said. "You know you're going to get paid and you know you can take as long as you want -- that's the hook."
"There's no question I am the number one harmonica case collector in the world," Hoffman said.
From a Vermont barn with a surprise inside, to the more abstract. And he's looking for more.
Aaron Stein works with recycled license plates and made a case for Hoff. He's also working on a special bracelet case to add to the collection.
"I can wear this case in the day very informally or say I'm going to a formal occasion," Hoffman said.
Constantly reaching out to local artists, when Hoffman gets his collection up to 500 he hopes to photograph them for a book and even put them in a museum. "I've grown to really respect the craft community here and I like to support them and they're obviously very creative as you can see," he said.
"It's really great because I know these harmonica cases will be seen out of state. A lot of Vermont businesses make money from people out of state," Brickels said.
Music to Vermonters ears as they add to a one of a kind collection.
For more information or to submit a case design click here
